UK Offshore territories
For
anyone holding money in the UK offshore territories: Jersey, Guernsey,
Isle of Man, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands etc, you should be
aware that the EU voted to put these territories back on the EU black
list as of the 1st February 2021.
I
suspected that this would be the case once the UK lost its protected
status in Brussels and these territories, which depend on the UK, have
been now put back on the EU's black list. Essentially this means that
they do not share adequate financial information and lack sufficient
fiscal transparency. By keeping arrangements in these jurisidctions you
will be subjecting yourself to punitive tax rates as a resident in
Italy.
If in any doubt then you can always contact me on +39 3336492356 or on email gareth.horsfall@spectrum-ifa.com
Letters from the Agenzia delle Entrate
Someone
forwarded me a forum discussion chat the other day which was discussing
the fact that British citizens around Italy were receiving letters from
the Agenzia delle Entrate and being targeted in a campaign for
undeclared finances.
Firstly, I should say that I do not have
any insight into what the Agenzia delle Entrate (AdE) is doing or
thinking, but can only hypothese based on past experience.
One
thing I think it is fair to say is that I don't think that the AdE is
actually targeting British citizens living in Italy as a result of
Brexit. What is more likely the case is that the AdE are doing what
they do most years, at the start of the year, and send out standardised
letters to foreign citizens resident in Italy with the hope that they
will pick up somebody who has undeclared income/assets and/or gains.
I
myself have received 2 of these letters in the past. The first proved
to be a mistake, the second however, put me in such a panic that I went
back over my finances for the previous year with a fine toothcomb and
realised I had mistakenly failed to declare a small dividend payment in
the UK, but it should be said that there was no mention of this error
on their letter. The letter itself was a standard letter merely
saying that as a result of information gained from the exchange of
information between tax authorities, it was 'believed' that I may have
undeclared assets/incomes and/or gains and that I needed to regualrise
my affairs. It was enough to make me look back over everything and get
everything 'in regola' .
I know that in the last few years
the Italian authorities have become more sophisticated with the
information that they have received and so should you receive a letter
with specific figures mentioned, then I think it is fair to say that you
have been caught and you will have to provide the information
requested. It would also make sense to get a commercialista to help
submit the information and negotiate with them on your behalf, if
required.
However, if you receive the generic letter then it
could just be that they are on a 'fishing' mission. Setting a cat
amongst the pigeons, pick one off and the rest become so much more
wary. In my opinion, any letter from the Agenzia delle Entrate should
not be ignored. It could certainly be the case that they are party to
information which has been shared by tax authorities in other countries
where you hold assets and so to ignore such a communication could land
you in very hot water indeed.
My simple message for anyone, to prevent ever receiving a letter from the Agenzia delle Entrate is
'If in doubt, declare the account' (And don't forget your other worldwide assets/gains and income too)
Imposte and Tasse
Do
you know the difference bettwen your 'imposte' and your 'tasse'?'. In
English they are both taxes, but in Italian they have different
meanings and so it is probably a good idea to understand what the
difference is.
Tasse are taxes which are collected to
fund a specific part of the Italian state. A good example is TARI
(Tariffa sui Rifuiti) or even airport taxes. They are collected for
the purpose of funding a specific part of the Italian state
infrastructure.
Imposte,on the other hand, are generic
taxes which are charged but which have no specific objective in mind,
other than to fund the ongoing cost of the Italian state. These would
include things like IRPEF (income taxes) IVAFE (wealth taxes) and IVIE
(a tax on property).
So, the next time you have a chat with
your commercialista, or when you are chatting in the bar about how much
we have to pay in taxes in Italy, you can make sure that you use the
right terminology for the correct type of of tax!
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